


Class Fight!

by cryptidCuriosity



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, POV Alternating, Past Abuse, Roleplay Logs, no beta reading we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:20:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29813166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryptidCuriosity/pseuds/cryptidCuriosity
Summary: Jake English and Hal Strider are two college students who need some help in the others major. Theoretically, studying together once a week for 13 weeks would go smoothly. After all, someone new to talk to plus being able to pass your classes? It's a win win situation!It's also a shame that they can't fucking stand each other.
Relationships: Auto-Responder | Lil Hal/Jake English
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

Everything is going pretty well for one Jake English, maybe beside the fact he’s failing a class...But look on the bright side! Every other class he has is doing just swell and getting his points up won’t be too much work! Well, no it will because he sucks at using computers. He can’t use one without feeling extremely confused unless Roxy has shown him. Even then he’s pretty sure she couldn’t help with this. Her science has to do with chemicals and all of that jazz. So, the only solution is to get a tutor! 

Surely he must be a good and well off fellow to be at ease with machines. There are so many different ways to be smart after all! Which is why it doesn’t faze him about failing one class, it doesn’t mean he’s stupid. And the same man is also not doing so hot in Zoology! It’s basically an English specialty all around the family, but he doesn’t want to brag. That would give off the wrong first impression….That’s never good! 

Jake walks into the library, greeting the lady at the desk before looking around. Oh, he should have paid attention to his footing. While looking around, in mostly wonder, he bumped into someone.

Hal Strider was failing a class. 

_ Hal Strider _ was  _ failing _ a class. Okay, at most, it was a C. But to Hal? Who prided himself on his work ethic? His grades? A C was absolutely failing. After many nights studying, complaining to his best friend Roxy ( _ "Honestly, Roxy, I'm a double major. Why in the world do I need to take a fucking life based science, and why the fuck won't they count biology? _ "), and many emails back and forth with his professor, Hal had no choice but to get a tutor. 

And sure, the world works in mysterious ways. The guy going to help him in his zoology class just so needed some help in a data and programming class. Hal thinks that maybe,  _ maybe _ , it'll be bearable. 

...And then some prick who wasn't watching where he was going walks straight into him, spilling Hal's hot coffee all over himself. Hal hisses a "Watch it!" as he grabs his white tank top, holding it away from his body because believe it or not, Hal is NOT a masochist who wants third degree burns, thank you very much. 

This is why Hal should've just stuck to Monster.

A splash of hot lands on Jake’s pants, nothing too bad but jeez it burns! In that moment Jake has a moment of panic before calming down, it’s just a mistake! He speaks, hands waving, 

“Oh I’m sorry chum! I didn’t mean to make a big ‘ol mess like this, maybe I can help you out?” For someone who wants to help he’s doing a lot of standing. Mostly because he doesn’t know what to do! This man looks so….bothered, maybe because of the coffee or he’s just having a bad day. 

And he’s a bit of a prick. 

But Jake doesn’t know enough about him to gauge that just yet. Here he goes, thinking thoughts that aren’t jolly. Silly him! He’ll find a positive thing about this. Maybe he’s meeting a new friend who has coffee on his  _ white tee- _ .

"Shit, Jesus, it's  _ fine _ ," Hal grits out, obviously not thinking it's fine. Coffee stains were fucking awful to get out, and he was betting on that coffee to keep him awake for his study session after this. 

"What are you gonna do? Suck it out?" Hal  _ meant _ it as a joke, but it comes out a little bit more derisive than he means for it to be. Oh well, this guy had to be around his age, probably a junior in Skaia University like Hal was. He should have a thick skin by now.

Luckily, none of it had spilled onto the red Hawaiian shirt he was wearing for totally ironic reasons, just like how he wore those triangular shades for ironic laughs. (Though, they  _ did _ help Hal's light sensitivity). At the very least, Hal could ditch the tank top and just button up the shirt. Hopefully, his study buddy wasn't already here. What was that guy's name? Jake something?

“ _ Gogs, _ I would never, where do  _ you _ get off talking to people like that?! I’m just, trying to see if I can help!” Clearly, he couldn’t tell that what Hal said was a joke. He never found himself to be the type to easily read people. That was more of Rose or Roxy’s thing, with the mind and all. But for Jake, it was easier to be blunt as to get the point across. 

Even if blunt has a few fancy words mixed in there, “Whatever, I don’t want to hold you up if you’re so  _ bothered. _ and Here I am-” he says while walking away, “Trying to meet a Hal fellow in this library!” 

Fuming wouldn’t be the word he’d use to describe his emotions right now. It’s more tilted, like at those towers. All he did was come here to have a nice chat, teach a new friend then leave. No, big deal! It was a simple in and out plan and now it was starting to feel more like a chore.

Hal visibly goes through the five stages of grief in half a second, processing that yes, this prick with the fake British accent  _ is _ supposed to be the one teaching him zoology, and in exchange Hal was supposed to spend 13 grueling weeks to teach him the most basic things about computers. 

Jesus fuck, what crime against humanity did he commit in his past life to deserve this? 

Hal releases his shirt, now damp and cold on his skin. He holds out the mostly dry hand, seeing as the other was still dripping wet with coffee.

"Hal Strider," He deadpans. "I assume you're Jake?"

Then there goes Jake going through the five stages of grief. If he wanted to hang out with someone rude he’d just hang out with Karkat.(Who is still even so kind as to give him snacks while they talk.) Though, he can’t just  _ refuse _ a handshake, shaking Hal’s hand but without a smile. If anything he looks like he feels tainted. 

He mutters something about ‘Sarsaparilla’ before sighing and letting go of Hal’s hand. Then for a moment he thinks tilting his head. So, he’s going to have to spend time with this douchebag...At least he’ll be talking about something he loves while doing so. This library will be the only time they get to see each other….hopefully. Gogs does he fucking hope. 

A cough then comes from him, just to pull himself out of his own head. “We should go grab a seat and get comfortable, as I feel like you’ll just be a pain in the arse the whole time.” Starting off strong English, 

“Seeing as Zoology does tend to be a tad bit harder than computers, clearly you get that...don’t you?” He then gives Hal one of those  _ charming _ smiles. While also looking irritated as all hell’s bells!

Hal takes a deep breath in through his nose, closing his eyes behind his shades. This is  _ fine _ , Hal. Just an hour and a half once a week. That's all. He could ignore Jake literally every other time. In total, it would be a simple 1170 minutes (19.5 hours) of sitting in the lower levels of the library with this jackass. He had more hours in  _ Minecraft _ than he would have to spend with Jake. 

"If you're failing a basic intro to computer's class," Hal starts. "And if zoology is harder than that, then, maybe I should be looking into another tutor, hmm?" 

Hal then proceeds to walk towards the tables, setting his stuff down at ones towards the back, away from others and by the window. He frowns down at his shirt, shaking his head. 

"I'll be a moment," Hal tells Jake. "For obvious reasons." 

With that, Hal walks into the bathrooms, first discarding the practically empty coffee cup. He washes his hand, slips off his shirts, and wrings his tank top out in the sink under running water. 

Okay. Jake was not only an annoying prick, but had a smart mouth on him. That was fine. Hal has most definitely dealt with worse (and had the scars to prove it). It would just mean that Hal couldn't let him get under his skin. 

Hal gives his tanktop one last good wring, then grabs a few wet paper towels to try and get the stickiness off his body. Once he deems that well enough, he dries off, buttons up his Hawaiian shirt, gives his hands one last wash, and goes to rejoin Jake at their study table.

That was some mental damage Jake just took...thank fuck Hal left so he could  _ wheeze _ . After this all he’ll just go over to Roxy’s or Karkat’s place and chill. Relax, calm down, not be near an asshole who’s good with computers. Never trust a man who’s good looking and likes computers. Though, Hal goes without the ‘good looking’ part. When you’re rude it dampers your face! Which is why Jake tends to attract others….even the creeps. 

Anyway! He sets up his own stuff, taking out his laptop but not turning it on just yet. He knows how to of course! It’s just that...it’s a bad idea when he’s doing something new with laptops...This is his third one.Thank fuck Roxy and Karkat have old laptops! He’ll probably even tell them about this whole ordeal. They might shed Hal in a different light by chance? 

Jake thinks on that a bit before bringing out all of his books. Even the six notebooks he keeps on the subject. There are so many things to talk about and so much time...he likes to over do it though. Having notes for Hal to even take on his own...which is helpful in cutting this time as short as he can.

And he could just try being  _ nice _ to Hal, but the relationship feels too far gone at this point. 

They don’t even have to say smart and witty quips at each other..and it’s still going to happen. He knows how these things go, though they’re different from any romance movie he’s watched. And that’s just how the cookie bakes, burns, and crumbles he supposes. Now he’s just sitting there, not looking to meet Hal’s face any time soon. 

So when Hal comes back he already has his notes open, marking down some extra information such as dates. A keyboard never works quite like a pen when it comes to him. Something feels so much more connected when it comes to doing yourself. Letters on the screen could never compete with wonderful lines on paper. It’s hard work! And his hand tends to cramp up either way. 

Looking up, Jake doesn’t say anything to Hal. A pout being on his face before he sighs, “So, which one of us is going first?” Might as well be the one to start them off. Since he spilled the coffee on Hal’s shirt and all...

Hal comes back, and his brain almost short circuits at the amount of notebooks Jake had. Jesus Christ, how has Jake's hand not fallen off by now? Hal settles across from Jake, and pulls out his laptop. Sleek, modern, nothing Jake would trust himself with. 

"From the amount you've written," Hal raises an eyebrow. "It would be a shame for me to make you wait... anyways, what concepts are you struggling with in your Introduction to Computer Science class?" 

Hal smiles at Jake, nice and polite. Bastard. Absolute fucking  _ bastard _ , knew what he was doing and even admitted to it. If Jake wasn't such a gosh darn nice person, he would be smacking that charming smile off of Hal's face.

There is a visible eyebrow twitch from Jake, clearly annoyed by Hal’s words. But no matter! He opens his own laptop, and this time it’s Karkat’s...He actually only knows the password. In which he types in ‘crabfucker69’ and then tilts his head. Wondering what the problem actually seems to be. Being raised in old fashion truly did come with perks and setbacks. He knows what a website is, a search engine...the kyeboard. Emails, charts, simple things like that! 

He just has no fucking clue how they work. So he shifts, he really doesn’t want to get laughed at. All the numbers and definitions, the odd way they can work and then don’t. The understanding of tech leaves him there, it’s just easier to do things himself. The only thing he’s really  _ good _ at is using his phone. And that’s because he has to text and call his friends. 

“I guess the mechanics, like, why and how they work I suppose….” When he looks at his screen he seems confused. Mumbling something he’s reading, these things make his brain empty. But he continues speaking, “And do MILFs have anything to do with computing? I seem to find it around a  _ lot _ .” 

Then he turns his laptop around, showing it to Hal...and fuck is it a mess. It looks like a junkie party but with more bullshit and laughing ads. Along with the top 10 tricks doctors don’t want you to know. And it’s pretty clear that Jake doesn’t even know enough to identify a virus….He doesn’t even manage to get them in the first place.

"The actual mechanics themselves can be a bit tricky to understand," Hal replies easily, logging into his own laptop. "But once you get the basics, it tends to get... well, the more easy it gets, the more frustrating it is." 

Hal clicks a few things on his computer. He normally kept any programming notes he took for future reference. It's one of things he loved about programming- the information would  _ always _ be useful. Many times if he couldn't figure out why something wasn't running, looking back through his notes might give him an answer. Or at least, provide him with a new perspective. 

When Jake asks about  _ MILFs _ , Hal feels a range of different emotions. If he went through the five stages of grief earlier, this was the full seven stages (with Denial 2 and astral projection being the extra two stages). For once, Hal is caught so off guard, his normal straight face Strider persona drops. 

His brow furrows together, his mouth slightly dropping open in shock. He slowly slides Jake's laptop towards himself in disbelief, red eyes scanning over the screen. 

Hal reaches up, screwing his eyes shut as he takes off his glasses to hold in his hand. He places his other hand over his face, processing, taking a slow, deep breath in, and a long, deep breath out. 

"Okay." Hal starts, sitting back up after his mini mental shutdown. Jake catches a flash of red in Hal's eyes as he slips his shades back on. "First things first, you need a  _ working _ computer. I don't want to ask... how..." 

Hal's voice trails off as he starts going through files to see if he can find the source of the virus. Holy shit. These file codes were fucking  _ horrendous _ . 

"Jake, I'm begging you. Tell me these aren't yours," Hal turns the computer to show Jake the files, all of which Karkat had written previously. "Because if they are, I think I might actually strangle you."

Hal’s pain is amusing to Jake, and he tries not to chuckle at the look on his face. Those eyes though...red. Makes sense why he needs shades indoors. But, back to how he didn’t know that whatever was going on was  _ bad _ . So bad that the nerd at his table seems to be going through the seven circles of Hell.(with an added one just for computer crimes.) 

“Well!” He starts off, clapping his hands together and smiling, “I get these laptops from my friends, and one of my dearest is Karkat. I will admit that sometimes he makes these little bugs for his other friend that codes….Solcux or whatever. And they do a little back and forth from time to time!” 

Through that whole explanation he was smiling, but then he looks slightly worried, “Do not put your hands on anyone over some little files! It’s not that big of a deal,” Yes it is a big of a deal but he’s just….he can’t see why it is. 

Maybe they should have started off with this first after all. Jake is completely clueless and Hal isn’t mentally prepared. What a wonderful combo to start their relationship off-

Talk about poetic irony. 

"Ugh," Hal sneers. " _ Captor. _ " Sollux Captor was another computer science major at the university, and the two had crossed paths in a few classes. They were partners ( _ not _ by choice) in one class, where they were tasked to write a faulty program and the other was supposed to decode it. Hal had given his program some form of structure and reason, to make it coherent. Sollux... gave him a fucking  _ monster _ . Honestly, it was like he just key smashed and gave it to Hal to unscramble it. Not to mention, you had to walk around eggshells around the guy, lest you want your head bitten off by him crying victim. 

(The professor had the class repeat the project later in the semester, just to see their improvement. In retaliation, Hal gave him the description of his program, and an empty file. But that's neither here nor there.) 

"Well, dear Karkat gave you a computer with probably 37 different viruses on it," Hal sighs slowly. "Is there anything important you need located solely on this computer? At this point, you're probably going to want to wipe the hard drive." 

Hal didn't comment on the fact they were hand-me-down laptops. Computers were expensive, he knew that pretty well. And hey, if Jake's friends were willing to help him out, all the power to them.

“Oh yes! Captor…” He scares Jake, not because he’s actually mean or anything. But because they’re so different when it comes to hobbies and speece. They tend to just sit in awkward silence until Karkat comes back. Anyhow, he already knew about Sollux being quite the character! So it wasn’t that surprising when Hal was suggesting to wipe everything. 

“No, this is my first time opening it! I don’t want to bother my friends all the time about these things you know. It’s my fault I just don’t understand I suppose…” One thing he hates the most is asking for help when it comes to objects. Learning is fun! There are so many new ideas and things he doesn’t understand. But when he doesn’t understand something to the point of breaking it…. 

Well, that’s where he starts to feel bad. Of course that doesn’t show though, as he continues to smile and shrug. Looking away for a moment... At least Hal was nice enough to not mention it. There are so many people who would laugh at him...for no reason. 

Okay, it’s time for him to stop thinking about it. He’s here to learn for Gogs sake, not mope.

Now, there is something to note about Hal; one of his favorite hobbies is people watching. Him and his youngest sister, Rose, used to bond over psychology and the human mind. The two of them would terrorize the rest of their family with the knowledge. Lying to them was pretty difficult. 

And sure, Hal didn't know Jake long, but he could pick up on the guilt. How he looked away, the way his entire persona seemed to falter, only for a moment... Well, Hal had seen it enough. His older brother's shades didn't hide his eyes as much as he thought. 

So, Hal sighs, trying to seem irritated. "Come over here," Hal states, scooting his chair a little to the side to make room. "At the very least, I'll show you how to wipe a computer, in the case Karkat decides to bestow another shitty computer upon you," 

Hal, as much as he likes to pretend, is not a monster. Sure, emotions are complicated and social interaction was exhausting, but Hal worked harder than the Devil to be a good person. He had seen what would happen, if he chose to be just a little bit colder, a little bit crueler. What he would become if he let that constant  _ thrum, thrum, thrum _ of anger and apathy swallow him whole. 

And Hal was tired of taking care of scars. 

But, Hal thinks of none of that, and just waits for Jake to scoot his chair over, so Hal can walk him through the steps of  _ something _ useful.

Jake had a hard time reading mood as always, even when someone didn’t mean it. So, Hal trying to sound irritated pretty much sounded like he was irritated. Which, he sighed but got up to sit next to Hal anyway. And to be fair, Jake  _ was _ a fast learner, it's just that visuals do more than just words. Combining the two always leaves him confused. As sometimes someone just speaks  _ so much _ and it flies over his head. 

He loves hearing his friends speak about things they love. Mainly because they just talk about it so much he’s able to retain the information. Though, he just likes the sound of someone else’s voice time from time. It can be relaxing. 

Really quick he grabs a notebook and a pen, wanting to write down the process so he can come back to it later if he forgets. And he’ll also have to make some drawings to go along with it....It’s a better way for him to process his notes. Unmedicated ADHD and all-

Hal gives Jake enough time to get settled while he grabs a cord from his bag, connecting one end into his laptop and the other end into Jake's. With Jake having to watch what he did, they were forced to sit close to each other. Underneath the overwhelming coffee scent (that Jake was sure wasn't normal), Hal smelled faintly of a  _ very _ nice smelling cologne and motor oil. 

"Right," Hal starts. He didn't need to speak as loudly as did with Jake across the table, so he spoke a bit more softer, a bit more smoother. "You're gonna need a good program to wipe the drive. And because I don't trust free to download programs worth a damn, I'm uploading my own to your computer- don't give me that look. I would rather cut my own hands off and code with my nose then have any of...  _ this _ on my computer," Hal cuts off Jake's quip, shaking his head as he clicks a few things on his own laptop, before a program opens on Jake's own laptop. 

"Then, all it is is a matter of running it. The program and any other automatically built in things like a Microsoft Edge browser will be left." Hal shrugs as he clicks the 'run' button. The program pops up a window, requesting the password twice. "Just type in the password. You'll also be able to reset the admin profile afterwards, so you can like... customize the home page and such." At the very least,  _ this _ was easy. Jake shouldn't have much trouble with it if he needed to wipe a computer once more.

Jake tries not to think too much about how Hal smells. Now he’s even a little worried about himself, even though he just smells like plant life and green apples. Then he’s trying to pick apart what Hal is saying, clearly having trouble with what is and isn’t important. Him having a nice voice makes it easier to listen he supposes. 

So, use the program that Hal made himself to wipe the drive. And since it’s already there he just has to run the program by inputting the password twice! That sounds easy enough! He types in the password, leaning closer to Hal instead of just moving the laptop. Personal space is something he forgets about rightfully. Since, it’s gotten colder lately and he tends to cuddle others when they’re over. 

He doubts that he’ll actually need to wipe the computer again. But it’s good to keep notes, which he goes back to for a moment. They’re bullet points….paragraphs makes his head hurt when he stares at them too long, 

“I have no clue what customizing has to do with a laptop.” He says that seriously, “How do you do that anyway? And what's the point? Seems a bit much to me honestly.”

And actually, written down in his notes also is Hal: -A bit bossy(or just rude), -Easy to listen to(even if he explains a bit much, -Probably is a bit extra but not surprising.(more to be added later.)


	2. Chapter 2

Hal was never good at keeping plants alive, so when Jake leans in and gets the faintest scent of warm earth and fresh apples, he can't help but take a second to recognize the smell. It was  _ nice. _ Different from Hal's own smoke and oil. Hal passes off the attempt to get a better whiff of Jake's scent through a few sniffles. 

Hal watches Jake write behind his shades. It was always interesting to see how other people wrote, the little habits they'd let sip. The way they leant down, the tip of the tongue that poked out. Habits were always Hal's favorite thing to watch. 

He blinks at Jake's comment, tilting his head. He assumed that Jake would be the kind of guy to  _ adore _ personalization, ya know, stickers on everything king of bitch. "Well," Hal turns a bit more towards Jake, raising an eyebrow, the slit from his scar obvious. "It'll stop calling you Karkat when you log in. But you can make it call you whatever you want. Lotta people change the background to a certain aesthetic, their internet browser the same way. Stickers are another big thing," 

Hal shrugs. "Nice to have things look a way you like,"

Hal's eyes flutter to the writing. He chuckles a little at it. Bossy and rude, he's heard that before. Easy to listen to? Huh. Most people give him the second latter of that bullet point (he makes a note to condense his words during actual lessons, learning disabilities were a bitch and a half, he learned that from Dave). Extra, but not surprising? Hal was wearing a Hawaiian shirt tucked into high waisted stone washed jeans. Hal was a gay fucking bastard. It  _ shouldn't _ be surprising he's extra in all aspects.

More to be added on later? Well, he would have to be asking about it later on  _ now. _

Jake didn’t really have many writing habits, just tapping his foot on the ground while he did so. And maybe he did play with the pen in his hands while thinking. Mostly he was paying attention to Hal who seemed to be surprised about what he said….and is that a scar? Well, he doesn’t want to pry and be nosey so he’ll do what he’s best at. Talking to people! 

“Hm, I do like the color green….” And stickers were fun, but he didn’t really want to spend too much time working on that. He might end up breaking something by mistake, he stopped moving for a moment. Taking his laptop and just setting up the basics like Roxy showed him. Email, web browser, twitter, and then that's all he knows. It's just inputting information, after all it’s not so bad. 

Then he pauses, clearly not wanting to ask for help...but wanting help. He  _ could _ just ask Roxy to help him out with making everything how he wants. But Hal is supposed to help him with these things….Bluh he hates making these choices. He then opens a different page in his note book, titling it “Customization” and then goes back to the other page. One step at a time would be for the best, 

“But Maybe that should come later? Or I’ll just ask a friend about it! She’s wonderful at this web-stuff!” And Roxy will probably hear him out about Hal...Anywho, “We should work on the basics, which won’t be too hard! I’ll just make notes about most things you talk about...just keep it short.” 

He didn’t mean for that to come out that douchebaggy, but it happens. Tone is one thing he’s not that good at when it comes to himself either

Hal waits for Jake patiently, clicking through a few notes on his own computer and making sure all his i's are dotted and t's were crossed. He kept everything in its place. His programming notes were fucking  _ beautiful _ , thank you. 

His zoology notes... not so much. Sure, everything was organized and in its place. But life and blood was so much more difficult than 1's and 0's. Code was life in theory, sure, but it was easier to read than the nervous or blood system. Human life was complicated, each pump of the heart making the lungs breathe and the brain produce it's stew of chemical soup. And if humans were complicated, other animals? That they aren't even  _ aware _ of themselves? And don't even get Hal started on their environments… 

Hal's eyebrow stays raised as Jake talks, and something mock of annoyance flares up at Jake's comment. (Though, most of his emotions were mocks, but that's a topic for another time). "Just for that particular criticism, one would be tempted to keep their jargon unquestionably, unconditionally, and wholly preposterous. Per contra, I am a compassionate human being, contrary to popular belief, so I will keep my vernacular short." 

Hal smiles politely at Jake, knowing he probably couldn't keep up with that sentence. Hal's little sister was an English and Psychology major. Rose forced him to call at least once a week, where the two would go around in circles psychoanalyzing each other with fancy and overly ornate language. In other words, Hal knew how to be a fucking asshole.

A breath comes from Jake, he breathes in and then out. Looking at Hal, and laughing even though nothing is funny. 

“Please go choke on some  _ glass _ if you’re so keen of almost doing that with  _ words _ . You shortstop bloody  _ fuck _ , I wasn’t even trying to be rude!” He yells but it's one of those quiet whisper yells that leave him. And now he’s pouting, moving his laptop over to himself. Then he also scoots over slightly. 

He doesn't want to smell the coffee and oil anymore. His face is now scrunched up and his eyebrow is twitching. And they both were doing so well too! This is what he gets for looking at a silver lining! A smart mouth motherfucker who is just oh so good at using techie shit. 

Crossing his legs, he takes one of his books from across the table. This one is different, hard covered and covered with frog and apple stickers. He opens it, and moves it out of Hal’s view. It’s actually a diary, remember what Roxy said. Writing down your feelings helps and there is no use in being irritated all day because of one person. 

Especially since Hal looks like he doesn’t wash his legs in the shower.

"I'm not  _ keen _ on it," Hal states, smile still pulling at his lips. "You're just too easy to piss off, and it's kinda funny at this point." Hal was going to spend hours thinking over this study session later, overthinking every quip thrown his way, every sneer he sent to Jake. He would probably end up throwing himself a pity party in Roxy's DMs, try to figure out a way to fix it, have his anxiety get the best of him, fail, and return to the vicious cycle once more. But for now? It was fun watching the twitch in Jake's brow and how his bottom lip jutted out when he pouts. 

Hal is only a tad bit disappointed when Jake moves away. He was enjoying the scent of earth and apples, but, you get what you deserve, he supposes. When Jake slides the hard cover notebook towards him and begins writing, Hal gets the memo it was something personal. And because Hal wasn't a  _ complete _ asshole, he turned to his computer, making sure his notes were in place. 

"Let me know when you're ready, English," Hal drawls. If Jake listened closely, he could hear the subtle southern accent. Sure, Hal's natural drawl was deep and thick, but when he came to Skaia University, he quickly learned to mask it. It stood out too much for his liking. 

Hal glances at the time. Roughly 20 minutes had passed. 73 minutes left in this session. 1,153 minutes left spending it with Jake. (Provided nothing goes wrong.) 

(Spoiler: Everything goes wrong, but, that's neither here nor there at the moment.)

Jake huffs, he’s not overeating this is a perfectly normal reaction. No one would let themselves be treated like this! And writing it down is okay and normal and he isn’t over reacting…. Maybe he was a little bit but that’s besides the point! The point is, he doesn’t like how this is going already, maybe he could do something about it…. 

Over ten minutes Jake starts to slow down on his writing, calming down. Then he’s closing the book and looking a bit...distant. He’s supposed to be teaching someone right now! And that comes to him as he finally grabs three notebooks, and hands one of them to Hal. It isn’t empty of course, just vocab and definitions of certain things. Of course it has extra information! But he isn’t just going to give that to Hal and say he’s done, 

“Okay, so, what are you struggling with?” Now that Jake thinks about it, Hal doesn’t really  _ need _ help. He just wants it due to the fact that his grade isn’t good enough for himself...That could never be Jake. It sounds so stressful and it’s better to be halfway there than nowhere. 

For some reason he feels irritated knowing this, but doesn’t write or anything. His hand hurts...And he stretches. Cracking several bones, including some of them in his arm. The pain then pretty much goes away, but he’s probably not going to be writing much during this...That's why the notes are pre-written.

Hal patiently waits for Jake to finish writing. That was the odd thing about Hal that Jake couldn't pin down; Hal was a fucking asshole, but, only during conversations. He would go out of his way to piss Jake off, but if Jake spoke of the opportunity into existence, it seems he would happily take it. It only made Hal even more infuriating. 

"Thought I was supposed to be helping you first," Hal points out. It was more of just a tease; a gentle joke than anything. But before Jake could back pedal, Hal switches the notes on his laptop from programming to zoology. 

He sits back in his chair for a moment, thinking of how to put it into words. Sure, a C honestly wasn't the end of the world, and most people would  _ kill _ to have grades like Hal, but... well. Hal couldn't really explain it. It was a crushing fear of failure, that if he messes up on his grades, his family wouldn't want him anymore. 

Maybe it's because if he didn't get good grades, he'd get grounded. And that meant more time with Bro. 

Old habits die hard, basically, and Hal's anxiety wasn't going to let this particular habit die anytime soon. 

"Human's biology is... complicated enough," Hal admits. Idly, he fidgets with his pen, making it move in a rapid seesaw motion between his thumb and forefinger. "Other species are even more so. You think any god would've created a clear template of their anatomy, but, it seems they didn't do so out of spite." 

Hal was a rambler, Jake should learn that very quickly. His mind spun itself in circles and his mouth was just there for the ride.

“ _ Love _ , I am running thin right now, please just get to the point so I can just show you what you need.” That ‘Love’ comes out more of a hateful hiss than anything. His mood is now ruined for the whole day! He’s tried writing and the breathing bullshit. But nope, he’s not letting this go. 

And he won’t do that anytime soon, seeing how he’s  _ stuck _ with Hal, “There’s the bodily functions, adaptability in behaviors, physically, chemically. History and ancestry, and a whole lot of other shit.” 

He  _ loves _ zoology, and wishes he didn’t sound too peeved while talking about it. It’s something that he and his grandma bonded over. Adventures and seeing new places and things, making something  _ new _ . Sun on your face or the rain, the smell of plant life all around. The kindness and harshness of certain animals....he loved it all. So why wasn’t it making him  _ happy _ . Talking about it always works! 

It always does. 

Maybe it's a worse day than he thought...but it’s almost over...even if he does have a shift today. He could get a nap in at some point...But right now, he looks like he’s ready to snap someone in half. Mostly due to the fact that he’s pissing off himself….it has nothing to do with Hal at this point.

"Dude, I don't understand this fucking topic worth a  _ shit! _ " Hal snaps, running his hand through his hair, disheveling the blonde almost white he was sporting. Okay, anxiety got the best of him right then. Maybe coffee wasn't a good idea, it always made him get overwhelmed. 

Reel it in, Hal. You took your meds. Your good. 

Hal takes in a deep, long breath, letting it out quickly. He starts tapping his pen rhythmically on the desk. Quiet, background noise for the ever growing static. 

"I mean," Hal backtracks, obviously attempting to put his frustration into words. "I have enough trouble understanding my own species biology. Other species are out of my grasp, and I'm lost on everything and in between. I get it, I understand it, I'm not processing any of it." 

Hal stops his tapping his pen, going back to the seesaw motion. "It's like when an adult talks in Charlie Brown. You can get what they're saying through context clues, but... you can't."

Jake, goes quiet for a moment piecing things together, “So, you need an example of what you already know? Like, to relate it to a subject because it’s easier to get it that way?” He tries his best not to seem...irritated now, understanding the frustration. 

It’s hard to learn things when some teachers won’t even put in the work for all of their students to understand. They just repeat the same things over and over again and it doesn’t even stick. He fiddles with his fingers, biting off a nail slowly. And bouncing a leg...gogs they both were a mess right now. Hopefully they will have more luck next time… 

For now, Jake has to figure out how to remake these notes for Hal. No wonder he doesn’t understand it well. Code is different from life, numbers easily guiding what they do. Programs listing everything it is and things being changed with some ease. Nothing like any living things, ever changing and growing. Being young and then rotting away old. Hearts that stop and start with reason but nothing can be done about it. 

Somethings just aren’t easily fixable. Life will never be fixable in Jake’s eyes…Oh, he’s fucked up so many times. What if he fucks up now! What if hal ends up hating him even more, and this feeling gets even  _ worse _ ... 

He starts to breathe again.

Hal seems to visibly relaxed as Jake clicked it together. He didn't  _ like _ explaining his learning problems. He grew up in an environment where anything deemed out of the normal was  _ wrong _ , and it took a lot to rewire most of his brain already. 

"Yeah," Hal says softly, less defensively now. Okay, yeah, he could work with this. "Either that, or I just... need more detail? Like. Where's the connection between biology and environment, how do those two affect each other. All I've been explained is that they just  _ do _ , and I don't get  _ how. _ " 

There's a reason the notes on Hal's computer were a complete mess. There was so much missing information, Hal doesn't even know where to start with the organization. 

He opens the notebook he was handed, glancing through it a bit, trying to get a footing of where to start. Hal could appreciate hand written notes, but would probably end up transferring them to his computer just to have everything in one place.

At that Jake hums, “Okay, so, let's think of the environment as a system. A system where only certain codes and conditions can work which are living things. And so, because of this, some codes need to be changed in order to fit the systems conditions. And some codes just fit within the system naturally, but need to be updated to do a better job….does that make sense?” 

He’s not really sure what he’s talking about but he supposes he gets it himself. Systems need codes, conditions, and commands. Like environments need plant live, animal life, and cell life to make it up. But of course, he’s not even sure if that makes any sense at all either. It’s just...easier to understand when he already knows what he’s talking about. 

And if he got anything wrong Hal will probably correct him anyway. If that does happen he might just piece it together himself too. Which means that it's a win win sort of deal...

Hal thinks for a moment, tilting his head side to side. Like his thought process was a marble and his brain was a maze you had to tilt the platform to get the marble through. Or he was physically loading his thought processes. 

"Yeah, okay," Hal says after a moment. "And if a code glitches or gets inputted incorrectly, it can fuck up the entire system. Meaning the coder- in this case, evolution- has to go in and fix it, right? Either that or the system will automatically read it as invalid, and the command won't input." 

Hal types a few things out on his laptop. Shorthand, mostly, so he could go back in later and fully expand on his thought processes. But hey, the actual point he made wasn't that far off! Look at Jake, teaching Hal something.

“Yeah! If the command won’t input, then the code will be removed.” Jake smiles, backing to his cheery self, holy shit he actually got through to Hal. Okay, this moment might not last long so fuck is he drinking it in. He does a small happy wiggle in his place, that’s the shit right there! 

He’ll make sure to note down this later, learning stuff about codes on his own time might be helpful. Plus, he could just ask Roxy or Karkat(if he was downbad). At least he now knows how to do these notes, it’ll likely be the things Hal is really lacking in he’ll note down. He sighs, the air around him feeling lighter… 

Hopefully one of them don’t fuck this up or they’re both done for the day. Jake doesn’t think he can handle another dip in emotions for today...


	3. Chapter 3

Hal processes for another moment as he types something else out on his laptop, moving a few notes around to organize it properly. Okay, yeah, he could work with this. And without the animosity, Jake was a little bit more bearable. 

Hal was still just a  _ tad _ disappointed he could breath in the easy scent of earth and apples. Damn, how long was he going to hyper-fixate on that? 

Nevertheless, Hal reaches down into his book bag beside him, pulling out a Monster energy drink. He cracks it open, and takes a swig of it without a second thought. Jesus, an energy drink on top of coffee? Hal's heart was going to give out at that rate of caffeine.

While sitting there, Jake looked over at Hal...They’re so different from each other. Something mechanical and a cold feeling came from Hal. This wasn’t bad of course, just something different...that he wasn’t used to. All of his friends(which was just two), tend to have their little quirks. Karkat is a lover of cute things on the inside, but puts on a front because he doesn’t want to get hurt. And Roxy seems like she has her life all together, but knows very well that it isn't the case. 

Maybe he can just talk to other people he knows well with more ease. But….he knows that isn't the case, it’s his fault someone- he- Gods, he’s supposed to be studying. What were they talking about again? He seems to actually focus when it comes to looking at all, mumbling, 

“Don’t you think an energy drink is a bit much after having coffee?” Yes, he spilled it. But he must have drunk some of it. And he knows some students tend to be on their sixth cup this time of day. Hal does look like that type of student.

Maybe it's because Jake and Hal had only known each other for maybe half an hour. Maybe it's because Hal's shades, or the fact he seemed guarded. Jake could probably ask Roxy, see if she could give him another point of view. 

Hal stops for a moment, almost... surprised by what he heard. Slowly, he turns towards Jake. 

"You mean the coffee you  _ spilled all over me? _ " Hal asks, incredulously and amused. His mouth ticks into a smile and he chuckles as he sets his drink down, fully turning towards his peer (and silently  _ praying _ that Jake would understand the joke). 

"Honestly, I don't think I'm in any danger, since I had maybe one sip out of that coffee before you decided it would look better on my shirt. But hey, maybe you can make it up to me by buying me a new shirt... or taking me out for another one," 

Hal's brain  _ grinds _ to a stop. Woah, wait, rewind, did he just say that out loud? Jake wasn't his type per se, but Hal couldn't admit Jake had a certain charm to him. Tall, dark, handsome. Clean cut jaw... and taller than Hal? Well, it was just as impressive as it could be attractive... 

Before he can fully process that himself, he turns back to his laptop, taking another swig of his drink. "Are we continuing with zoology, or do you want to switch to programming?" Hal asks quickly.

Jake does get the joke, chuckling, he did do that huh? Well, at least Hal isn’t overdoing it when it comes to caffeine….well he’s not overdoing it in front of Jake at least. Buying a new shirt for his study bubby wouldn’t be such a bad thing to-  _ wait what the fuck did Hal just say to him. _ Relationship ideas like that are fine in his book, honest! He’s not a blushing mess because it sounded like flirting….noooo. He’s bad at reading tone remember? That must have been another joke of Hal’s. 

Yes. 

Of course. 

He totally isn’t thinking about buying Half a coffee now. Nope. That thought isn’t crossing his mind. Only what Hal’s shirt size could be...what would Hall look like without- NOPE!! That train of thought has left the station and isn’t coming back. Studying! He remembers that he needs to pass a class, 

“Programming would be lovely right now if I do say so myself! You’re already pretty outstanding so I would need some  _ help _ .” He wheezes ‘help’ in a flustered tone. Clearly feeling like he just messed up when it came to saying that right. For a moment he drags his hands over his face and shakes his head. 

Oh. He’s a fucking mess.

Hal wasn't far behind him, definitely not focusing on Jake's broad frame or those seemingly strong arms. Why must the H in Hal stand for Horny, holy  _ fuck _ . 

Hal snaps out of it when Jake asks for help. Yeah, okay, programming, he could do that. "Right," Hal starts, and for some unknown reason, slides closer over to Jake. Hal is able to get that sweet earth and apples, and god, it reminded him of apple pie. 

"So, where are your issues lying?" Hal starts. He steals a glance out of the corner of his eyes. Hal hasn't been able to get one good luck at Jake's eyes yet. Well, it's not like Jake got the same either. 

Though, Hal doubts anyone would want to stare at  _ his _ eyes for long. That was an insecurity for another day, however.

Jake doesn’t mind all too much that Hal gets closer, if anything it’s welcomed. The smaller man's frame against his makes him look...cute. Like, a cake beside a muffin….which a cake would be lovely right about now...Though having something sweet for his first meal all day wouldn’t be the smartest idea. It’s nice to think about at least, 

“Well, how does programing work? Like, what are the quirks of it and stuff” He looks at Hal, his eyes a seafoam green. Only his grandmother had emerald eyes….oh they were so lovely. He sighs, more because he’s lost in thought and not the underlying frustration he feels. Now what this frustration is about, he has no clue. But damn if it isn’t festering a little bit. 

Then he snaps himself out of it because he’s been staring at Hal for longer than needed. He coughs, and looks away embarrassed by his actions. He really needs to work on daydreaming at better times….

Hal clicks open his programming notes, making sure everything would be in place for Jake. He gets distracted, momentarily, watching those seafoam green eyes... For a moment, Hal's world comes down to just two things. Just two colors. Everything else, and Jake's eyes. Gray, and seafoam. They say Aphrodite was born of seafoam, the white froth collecting on golden shores to birth the embodiment of love and beauty. Hal wonders, distantly, if the goddess' eyes were such a lovely color? 

Hal snaps out of it. Woah, wait a second, he's a computer science and mechanical engineer major. Not an English major. 

He makes a mental note to talk to Rose about it. While he would hate to subject himself to the terrifying moral ideal of being known, well, feelings were foreign concepts, and his little sister would happily oblige picking him apart. 

Hal then snaps out of  _ that _ train of thought, and he focuses back on Jake. Maybe even worse, he focuses on Jake's lips instead of those captivating eyes. But as he watches Jake's mouth work, he almost misses the question. 

This was  _ bullshit. _

"That's a broad question, English," Hal says after a beat. "And there's a lot of backstory to that, so, uh, click your pen and I'll try to make a long story short. But short things have never run in the family, and rambling is a Strider specialty. So sit back and buckle the fuck up, and welcome to my caffeine induced anarchic train of thoughts about something I have been doing for over ten years." 

Hal gives Jake a second to get situated. He hopes Jake wouldn't hate him for rambling- he did it when he was nervous, and his emotions and thoughts were all over the place right now.

"So, before you can talk programming, you gotta speak the lingo of computer's. To keep it simple, computers are just fancy on and off switches. With 1 being on and 0 being off. Programs are what we use to flip the switches, and code is what we use to tell the programs what to tell the computers to do. Where have I lost you?" Hal wasn't trying to assume Jake couldn't keep up, but it was pretty obvious Jake had trouble focusing when it came to long rambles or monologues. His mind was going round in circles from the whole waxing poetics about eye color on a guy he barely knew. He was trying to fix issues before they even appeared. 

These... dactylic thoughts towards a prick with a fake British accent being one of said issues.

When Hal told him what was coming, he sighed, smiled, and chuckled. It was light hearted, because out of the (fewer) words that Hal has said...these seem to be a nervous tick. Of course, he wasn’t focused on what was making Hal this way. But, it was amusing to see him talk so much. Though, he was more focused on the man’s face and lips than his words. He sorta tuned it out….Hopefully Hal would understand. 

Who wouldn’t wonder what color eyes are under those dark shades. Eyes are also easier to read than faces. Sure, Hal was stoned face most of the time but his eyes keep seeing something he likes.(And it could never be him! There are many pretty people in a library.) Focusing on that isn’t really the time, Hal’s voice needed paying attention to. While it  _ is _ easy to listen to...he manages to not understand jack shit. Maybe something 1s and 0s? The confusion clearly shows on his face. 

At least he can play it off like he wasn’t tuning out everything but Hal. 

“I...Please, could you tell me what was important in what you just said. I mean, it's fine if all of what you said was important but I understood...none of it.” He gives Hal a shrug and a smile, “Maybe you have the jitters or something.” 

After saying that, Jake thinks about it for a moment, “Maybe, you can relax, and we can exchange numbers and emails. It’s easier to explain things when you’re in a calmer mood so for now I guess we could work with each other in a way that doesn’t cause a uh…..gods…..what's the word?”

"Ruckus? Animosity? Hatred? Bad Vibes, even rancid, as the kids say? Perhaps, even, loathing?" Hal offers. Despite still rambling, he takes a piece of paper from the back of the notebook Jake gave him, tears it in half, and writes down his number and personal email with ease. His handwriting was neat, surprisingly. It borderline cursive, Hal connecting letters together but still making it readable. 

"And if you think this is me having the 'jitters', I can absolutely assure you this is normal." The worst thing was, it was normal for Hal to ramble his head off a mile a minute. Jake should see Hal when he is comfortable with someone. 

Hal taps his pen a few times on the table. "I'll work something out," He mutters under his breath. Hal had a problem with rambling, Jake had a problem with listening, well... This was going to be a conundrum. 

"To back track," Hal starts. He tears another page out. Okay, maybe Jake wasn't good at listening, maybe visuals would be the key. "Computers are fancy on and off switches. 1's are on, 0's are off. Programs flip the switch, codes tell the programs when and why." By the end of the recap, Hal had written down a few shorthand notes; 

  * _𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓊𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈 = 𝑜𝓃/𝑜𝒻𝒻 𝓈𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒸𝒽_



_ ↳𝟣'𝓈 = 𝑜𝓃 _

_ ↳𝟢'𝓈 = 𝑜𝒻𝒻 _

  * _𝓅𝓇𝑜𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓂𝓈 𝒻𝓁𝒾𝓅 𝓈𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒸𝒽_



_ ↳𝒸𝑜𝒹𝑒 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁𝓈 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓂 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 + 𝓌𝒽𝓎 _

They may not have been strictly shorthand, but, it at least put verbal words into physical ones. It might help Jake digest it easier until Hal found a more permanent solution for him.

Jake takes the paper in his hand, squinting before smiling. His understanding of a bit of cursive was rusty, but Hal’s handwriting was easy enough to understand. He then added Hal’s phone number to his contacts, along with his email. At least the other was willing to work something out, it would be harder if he wasn’t. 

But if this was normal sometimes Hal’s words will just shoot right through his ears and he won’t understand a lick of it. Which, at least this time he’s given a written down reference point..and it doesn’t look so bad. So these things just tell a code what to do? He looks at the paper and then writes something down in his notebook for this topic. 

“Well, that seems... simple, I think what really got me is how confusing it actually is. Telling something what to do with a combination of numbers and other commands….Ugh” It hurts his head just thinking about it. He really hates working with these types of things. 

He’s tried to even install games and such, they mostly fail. As, he sucks at even opening a zip file and Roxy called him a ‘sweet baby boy’ while doing it for him. It was just confusing for no reason! It was worth it though because the game was so cute...Back to Hal’s programming class for dummies! 

“Is there anything I need to know about…” His mind blanks, and it clearly shows on his face. He doesn’t even know the word he’s trying to use and for that moment his eyes seem hazy. Before he laughs and snaps out of it, “Who am I kidding I suck at asking questions!” 

He’s been putting himself down a  _ lot _ today. Maybe...maybe he should stop it.

Hal was glad Jake understood his writing. He always thought his handwritten notes were horrid, and that it would just be better to do notes by documents. It took him a long time to get his handwriting so neat, but even now, he doesn't believe that they were up to par. 

Hal was gonna have to find something for Jake. While writing things down was an easy solution for now, it wouldn't be long term. Maybe there was some text-to-speech option he could use, and Jake would be able to edit them from there. Yeah, maybe something like that. 

"Trust me, I feel the same way," Hal jokes to the first part. "It never gets easier, but hey," Hal shrugs. "It's interestin', and according to you, easier than zoology,''

Hal raises an eyebrow when Jake puts himself down for like, the 7th time. He shakes his head, disagreeing. "You don't suck at asking  _ questions _ ," Hal starts. "You just don't understand the material, and you're not sure where to start to start asking questions. Vice versa with me and the whole animal shitck. None of it makes a lick of sense, so, where am I supposed to start, ya know?" Hal tilts his head, observing Jake behind his shades. 

"And, word of advice," Hal turns towards his computer. Roughly 30 minutes left. "The more you put yourself down, the harder it'll be to learn. Trust me, I know."

"I did say that..." He mouths this to himself softly, chuckling at his own pettiness. Oh, it sounds so silly to hear that out of another mouth... 

But, Jake is then washed over by the fact that Hal...gave him some advice. And good advice at that, he really should work on that. He does seem to have a mental block when everything seems so hopeless. At least this meeting this didn't turn out with that feeling...even if it did start off a little salty.... Maybe, he  _ should _ bring Hal something, but tomorrow. 

"Thank you..." He might as well give Hal that, looking away after doing so. His face feels hot for some reason and he can't pinpoint why. Certainly it isn't anger....so it might be embarrassment. Well,  _ it's better to speak your feelings than hold on to yourself _ , he thinks. Getting up so he can start putting his stuff away.

Hal watches him from behind his shades. Cutting the meeting short, fine. He would stay, finish up homework. He constantly had things to do, anyways. 

"Same time next week?" Hal offers, not looking up. "I'll make sure to drink my coffee earlier in the day." A smile tugs on his lips. It was a jab, sure, but less hostile than the other ones. 

Of course, Hal had to make some smartass comment. Jake figured that would be happening no matter what from now on. Well, at least he would only have to deal with Hal once a week. And hopefully not more. 

(Spoiler: He deals with Hal a  _ lot _ more than once a week.) 

Soon enough though, Hal would be able to get home, take a quick shower. He could complain to Roxy about Jake and have Rose tell him what the fuck was up with that English major moment. Eat something quick, do homework, go to bed at three, wake up at 6, repeat repeat repeat... 

Hal's life certainly was exciting.

When Hal started speaking to him, Jake seemed to perk up...it was better than getting a scowl. Anyway, he smiled at Hal and raised an eyebrow, "You cheeky fuck, you'll never let me get away with the spilled coffee bit. But, I was actually thinking about getting you some next time!" He laughs, seeing how that sounds. 

It came out more like he was asking for a coffee date, and he had to cough, "You know, it's a small act of forgiveness to get you one. So, how do you like it?" 

Jake's day would be the same as ever after this, but he wasn't actually leaving just yet. He took his bag and sat down by Hal again. Working with his laptop on his own. Just, small things, one at a time was for the best after all. And he knew how to work the notes so it wouldn't be that hard to type them down. 

They had a while still left, and if it was mostly spent in silence that was fine. He had to think about plants to water, and how he was going to complain to Roxy about Hal....Even though it's easier to see the fellow in a better light at the end. Which, he probably shouldn't have been so rash when it came to those thoughts...Oh well, they're still here now.

Hal thinks for a moment with Jake's question. He... didn't except Jake to take that offer up, honestly. But hey, it was nice, and Hal would always be down to get his caffeine fix. 

Hal looks up at Jake, raising an eyebrow. "Medium vanilla latte. Two extra shots of espresso, extra classic syrup, and a shot of peppermint syrup, if applicable." Hal rattles off his order easily. At the very least, it was pretty simple. 

Hal was kind of surprised Jake stayed. Hal expected Jake to leave at the first chance. He figured Jake thought he was unpleasant and too snarky to be around. But, hey, if Jake was gonna stay, Hal wasn't going to say anything. 

He does look up when he realizes the sun was glaring on his screen. Ugh, that was annoying. At least he could shut the blinds, making the area darker and honestly, easier to see in. Light sensitivity was a bastard to deal with. 

"You don't have to stay," Hal mentions as he pulls up the assignment he needed to work on. "I think our study session came to a nice stopping point, less you want to work on homework and ask me any questions you need." Hal shrugs a little. He wouldn't mind working like that.

Jake quickly types down what Hal likes, and makes a mental note to write it down somewhere else later. After that, he continues on with notes and such. He's having a small chat with Karkat on the side when Hal gets up to close the blinds. The darker area being noted in Jake's eyes, he hadn't even noticed the sun. Maybe because he spent all of his time outside instead of inside. 

He looks over to Hal as he speaks, tilting his head with a smile, "Oh I don't think I need any of that, I just want to spend more time with you. As odd as it sounds, You aren't a  _ bad _ person just...a tad snarky." He then makes a pinching motion with his fingers. 

Then actually starts to talk with his hands as they aren't busy writing down something, "You aren't bad company either! Most of my friends are...loud to put it simply, so someone who's quiet is a nice change of pace." But when Hal talks, Hal fucking  _ talks _ . And that's honestly enough to make up for their silent moments. 

Going back to his laptop, he types a few more things down. Which is amazing that he even understands some of what he's typing down anyway. For a moment he checks his phone, frowning at the fact that...he's working more time today....That was likely a mistake on his past bubbly self. He's going to need a major nap after this.

Hal’s hands stop moving at Jake’s first comment. Behind Hal’s shades, he blinks a few times, processing. Jake liked spending time with _him_? Hal. The same guy who was an asshole at every turn, the same guy who tried to make Jake question his ability to pass? The guy whose voice dripped with sarcasm every time he opened his mouth? Jake wanted to spend time with _that_?  
Hal didn’t even get a chance to respond before Jake spoke again. He’s “not bad company”? Jesus, this guy had to be a masochist or something. Hal barely had two friends outside of his family because Hal could never find a way to be good company. Hal just got two positive comments in one go, and he didn’t quite know how to react.  
“Uh, yeah, I suppose,” Hal mumbles sheepishly. He didn’t expect this sort of kindness, and it was making his head reel. 

Oh, darling, who made you this shy to kindness?

“Though, I don’t think I would use ‘quiet’ as an adjective for me,” Hal says, lightheart and humor lacing into his voice. When could he do that? “Most people tend to lean towards ‘annoying’ or ‘obnoxious’. I’m partial to ‘unsightly’ as well.”

"Unsightly..." Jake lets that word rest on his tongue as he looks at Hal, then he smiles and scoffs. "I think you're quite the catch! Sure, you might be "annoying" or "obnoxious" to someone else. But you're pretty okay in my eyes, you're smart and have a sense of humor. Ah...Does that make sense?" 

He tilts his head while looking at Hal, then he looks away. Their time is actually up, and they spent it talking...Well, that's not a bad thing. 

Maybe he and Hal will end up clashing with each other from time to time but that happens. As long as they get along most of the time it's okay, right? At least that's what Jake thinks and he's sticking with it. Good thing he actually found something positive to talk to Roxy and Karkat about when it comes to his new study buddy. And maybe Hal sees Jake a bit differently now as well. 

Only time will tell though, "Either way, I do hope our next meetings are pleasant." He then puts up his laptop, humming softly.

Hal received another slap to the face from Jake. He thought Hal was ‘quite the catch’? What the hell did Jake mean by that? Did he think Hal was attractive? A nice person? Jake may not have been able to read tones very well, but he could confuse people just as easily.

Hal watches Jake get up, and almost feels a ping of disappointment. It had already been 90 minutes. And while some part of him was relieved for it to be over with, another part didn’t want Jake to leave quite yet. Yes, they were working independently in silence at this point, but it was nice. Comforting.

Hal glances down at the time as Jake packs up. An hour and a half had passed. 1,080 minutes left to spend with Jake. Only 12 more weeks now. Distantly, Hal thinks it’s nowhere near enough time with Jake.

“Careful, English,” Hal starts as his brain comes back to life. “I’ll make sure to keep it anything but just to spite you.” Jake did say he was a  _ ‘tad’ _ bit snarky, didn’t he?

"Hoo?" Jake questions with his voice before laughing, "Well, try your best to do so I suppose." 

It has been settled in Jake's mind that no one wants him around,  _ way _ before meeting Hal. However, that feeling wavers whenever someone seems to take an  _ actual _ liking to him. Even if that liking is a bit clouded by other feelings and words. He doesn't even want to leave now, just...take in more of Hal. But, he does have work to get to and plants to take care of. But before that... 

He takes something out of a smaller side bag, it's....a candy bag. 

"I meant to give this to you by the by!" It's filled with green apple candy, "It was supposed to be a welcoming gift or something along those lines...But I guess I must of forgot about it!" He then sets the bag on the table for Hal to take, he can choose not to though. 

"I'm not really sure if sour candy is your style..." He chuckles.

Jake was not slowing the roles on any of these punches. Hal blinks a few more times, before reaching out and slowly taking the bag. “No, actually,” Hal says softly, turning the candy bag over in his hands. Huh, this was… new. “I’ve always loved sour candy.”  
Hal makes a note to return the favor. Jake seemed to enjoy frogs and apples, maybe something with that? Yeah, Hal thinks he could work with that. Maybe he could brainstorm something up with Roxy, buy something nice when he goes out for his weekly grocery shopping trip. He should have time before he saw Jake next week.

“Thanks,” Hal says softly, still reeling. “But it doesn’t mean I’ll be any nicer to you,” The same infuriating smirk pulls at Hal’s lips, just for Jake. It’s been quite a long time since he had such a wonderful time talking to a new person. Normally, just his siblings could deal with his snarkiness. Equius was too timid to be as harsh to, Calliope was always much too sweet, Caliborn…

Actually Caliborn was a fucking asshole, he would beat that bastard to death any God given day.

“I’ll see you around, English,” Hal says, still smirking. “Try to not hit too many doors on your way out. Or low hanging branches.”

"Oh haha, try growing a few more inches and then I'll be able to hear your low blow insults." This time Jake made it clear that this was a joke, "And sure, I'll let you believe that you'll keep up those walls. Just for your sake." 

He then gives Hal one of those  _ charming _ smiles, but it isn't mocking, there is no need for that. Normally though, he's smiles aren't  _ real _ more like a cover up for a lot of personal issues. So, it's nice to be able to give someone who isn't Roxy or Karkat an actual smile. Oh, speaking of Roxy she's going to get an ear full, hopefully she doesn't make those off handed comments about romance. Now that he reminds himself, both Karkat and Roxy are romantics. 

That's not really Jake's thing, no matter how many people he meets they just can't handle...him. Roxy doesn't count because she's a wonderful friend that Jake enjoys being around. And she isn't shallow when it comes to their relationship, now Karkat isn't shallow either. Just. Weird. But he would be the best person to ask about a good coffee shop. Lords know that he's always staying up all night with his new "boyfriend". 

Roxy- Oh! He should really get going and stop standing here like a dummy. So he waves Hal a quick goodbye before leaving the library. 

Almost bumping into someone else again.


End file.
